BeachinBeauty

Thanks for posting this thread, and I hope you had a great time on your trip, even if St. Thomas was a bit of a bust.

 

Question - I saw that you had FTTF. How was the experience for embarkation? What time did you arrive? We're sailing in a week and a half, (eek!!!) and it would be nice to know if there's some optimal time we should get to the ship.

 

Also going along with that, and if you remember, what time did bags arrive in your room?

You're welcome!

We arrived to port at 10:45 AM and I wish I would've paid better attention to when we actually got on. I just looked back at some pictures I posted to Facebook that day, and I know I was for sure in our room by 12 PM (really, before then). It took us 30 minutes to park our car because the debark process had not ended from the previous cruise and the parking deck was full.

I want to say we walked into the terminal at 11:20 AM. We walked right up to the first check in place and went right through metal detectors. We were in line for Sail and Sign cards by 11:30. We were probably walking on at 11:50. That's only because I lost my S&S card right before walking on and I had to stop and find it.

We checked out our rooms, went to lunch and had bags when we got back from lunch.

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During my B2B on the Conquest in October, several of the quarter machines in the smoke free section were paying out hits of 500 to 800 quarters over and over again. The double triple diamond, the 5x and the double diamond (all in the same row) were the loosest machines. Even after one player hit 3 or 4 times, the next player was still lucky. Nothing during the day, but at night after 10pm was the hot time.

Oh wow, where were you before I sailed? Lol! We were casino newbies and I should've asked more about the machines before we left.

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This is weird... We had a different type of cruise and people could essentially eat anywhere. We had YTD and one night a couple that had set dinning came to eat with us. They were surprised that the bread basket was left for us because it hadn't been for them upstairs! Even when it was just two of us they left the basket with probably 6-8 rolls but only really two varieties. I don't have any idea why they would do that differently between YTD and set dinning. I saw plenty of other tables in the area treated the same so it wasn't just our server. I would have to guess that if you asked though that they would leave it... at least they would have you had them make three trips for more bread the first night :p

 

Entertainment has changed just a little in the way they lay it out. They now run two different shows on the same night, and then later run those shows at the opposite time. It used to be that the show would run once for early and then repeat for late seating. I'm also trying to recall the show schedule (but again we were a charter so it may have been different). I believe they had three big production shows, the welcome aboard (kinda production, kinda meh) and then a main stage comedian one night. Some nights they only had an early show and then it was a charter specific show at like 9.

 

But no, no live band and flashy dancers with feathers and g-strings any more. One thing I did notice and liked a lot was that they had bands playing all over the ship at various time all night long and we spent a lot of time just sitting in the lobby listening to O&O a young acoustic couple.

I am certain they probably would've left the basket but I didn't wanna seem like a traditional, fat American asking for an entire basket of bread lol! I've lost 50 pounds this year and counting, so it's kinda good I had a limit so I wouldn't go overboard (no pun intended). But now I'm wondering if the bread baskets have been removed from all Carnival ships or just from set dining rooms... or if that was a Conquest thing. Hold on, I'm not done typing my phone submitted too soon...

Anyway, yeah I can't remember the exact show lineup. We liked sitting on Promenade at night listening to the live music.

Did you experience a lot of movement in your room from rough seas? It totally slipped my mind when I responded to you earlier, you were in 6442, which was my in-laws' room. I can't promise you they didn't break the door, after all lol! But ours was hard to open in 6450. Also, I forgot to respond to the part about the loungers. No loungers for us, only two chairs and a small table. I didn't know you could ask for those!

I forgot our bartender told us that the ship was being chartered the week after our sailing. Sounds like that was the sailing we should've been on, they were expecting it to be a ton of fun! Were you apart of the group, or did they open booking to the general public at the last minute?

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Looking forward to your review, we are on the Conquest in February after she moves to Ft Lauderdale. I agree with you on St Thomas, it has become so commercialized that it is uncomfortable to go to.

It was just not what I was thinking. Next time I'll be better prepared. I think a large part of my negative experience also had to do with my father in law. He is never pleased or happy with anything. I was so worried about what he was thinking and then he was complaining the whole hour at the beach about the taxi cost. Yes, I still would've been disappointed if I hadn't had him with me, but I think it was exacerbated by the fact that I knew one negative experience in St. Thomas, and he was gonna paint the whole trip based on that.

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Hey - did you break the balcony door? :p We were in room 6442 right after you! The door was a bit of a hassle at first, but then we just started to push it further open so it would stay. Curious if you had a lounge chair on the balcony when you were there. We didn't have one and the steward brought us one, so I didn't know if he took it back after each sailing. We ported next to another Conquest class ship in Cozumel and all of the long balconies had them. It must be up to the hotel manager on each ship or something since most of ours didn't, but all on that ship did!

It was a hassle for us, as well. I'm not sure why. There were a few times I could not get the darn thing open to save my life so DH did.

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Thanks for doing this! Can you tell me what shows were being offered in the theater at night? Is the Conquest one of the ships with the 30-minute quickie shows, or the longer ones with live music?

I was very disappointed on the show aspect. I hadn't cruised since 2003, and Carnival has done a lot to cut costs since then. Example: I was pretty confused when the waiter in MDR didn't just place an assorted bread basket on our table. Instead, you're only allowed to pick 2 items and they take it away. So, I was most certainly in shock when we got the Fun Times and didn't see a different and exciting show being offered every night. There was one show that the name escapes me, but it was 70s and 80s rock themed. DH loved it, and it was alright, but he hadn't cruised in the old days of Carnival. They did it two nights. There was also a Latin pop one and a club pop type one, I believe (if I'm not mistaken they took place the same nights as the 70s/80s show). Then, there was a show called Divas that was offered at least one night that I know of. We didn't go to that one. I'm not sure what it was about. I'd have to get the Fun Times out and look back to see if there was anything else.

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I know the conquest doesn't have a serenity deck but I want to know what occupies that space. Is tywreba hot tub? Deck chairs?

My last cruise before Conquest was in 2003, so I haven't cruised on a ship with Serenity. But, from what everybody says, on Conquest, the area that would normally be Serenity is just chairs. There is an adult pool and hot tub (aft). The pizzeria is back there so there may be a kid or two in the vicinity, but surprisingly, we never saw too many.

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Did you go into the casino? How was their selection of Video poker machines? Was it very smokey? Thanks!

 

Sue

I believe there were good bit of video poker machines and they were hardly all taken when we would go in there, so you should have a good shot :) It actually wasn't very smoky like I thought it would be. Conquest has two other indoor smoking venues, so it wasn't an issue where everybody was rushing there to smoke.

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Not trying to hijack the thread... but the chairs were pretty harmless for us whenever we ate there :p

 

They did have arms on them, but there were booths as well. We ate in the Renoir (mid ship) and they have booths on the lower level that kind of ring the raised center section. Those tables were booths on one side, and chairs on the other. I only mention that because sometimes people in a party don't like booths and want chairs so that would be the best of both options. The chairs though were fairly wide and more of a U shape to them as opposed to a traditional squared off shape.

 

The buffet area chairs were smaller, but even more booths available up there with a lot of booth/chair tables. Check out the upstairs area with fish and chips which was never crowded and often didn't have more than 3 or 4 tables being used in the whole area!

We were in Monet and the chairs did not have arms (at least not on the upper level!) I agree with you about going upstairs at the buffet. We always did.

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Hoping you can help out, wondering if you recall if the chairs in the dining room or the buffet area have arms on the chairs or are they harmless. I'm a big guy and the little details help. Thanks

In the buffet, I know they did. In MDR, they did not.

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I am a little confused. Does "singles" cruise mean like, singles looking to "hook up," or is it a matchmaking type deal? What type of group is this? Singles gatherings mean different things to different people. Well, at least, to me. Bear in mind I'm sort of new to the cruise community so I'm not sure what is typical. If it is a cruise for people to meet people in a relationship sense, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. If it is a cruise just to meet people for "encounters," it could get wild. I guess. But, I mean, it's not like people are just gonna start getting down on the dinner table beside you or anything.

I am willing to bet my most prized possession that people met and "hooked up" on every cruise I've been on, but I never paid it any mind. Find out how large this group is. If booking is still open to the general public, it's at least not a big enough group to sell out and over crowd the ship. Call Carnival. Find out what floors these folks are staying on, ask if you can be moved. Explain your situation.

You're not interested in cancelling, understandably, so you're gonna have to try and make the best of this thing. Your dad doesn't have to know there is a singles group on board. They'll all be strangers to him, how will he know who each person is with? They'll just be a crowd of people on vacation to him. You can't control which groups book a public cruise.

To be honest, the situation kinda sounds like what I just went through with my father in law. I was so stressed that he wouldn't enjoy himself and would never want to cruise again, because he is so easy to dissatisfy. Of course, he hated it and never wants to go again (and as far as I know there were no singles groups on ours). But, that's okay. We'll still cruise in the future without him. No big deal. You unfortunately fell victim to tough luck (potentially, there is no guarantee it'll be a bad trip). But you can't stress over it. Make the best out of it and CALL CARNIVAL!!!

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I just got off the Conquest on the 30th and we had it one of the nights. I can't remember which, but I had it and it was great. I only hate that I couldn't finish it because I was too full.

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Sorry to hear about your rough start! You sound like me, but I'm like, won't ever do aft again. We had rough seas the week before your sailing (on Conquest), but had the issue in an aft balcony. Never again! It'd have to be a free cruise for me to ever stay anywhere other than a midship cabin again in my life. We felt every single movement. Honestly, it felt like the room was going in circles. Front, back, side to side. I couldn't read our Fun Times in our stateroom because I would get queasy like I do when trying to read in a car. Putting on make up almost did me in one night. Not only was there movement but some strange banging noises as well. I thought the ship was breaking down.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the same luck going to guest services. I was told the ship was sold out. I'm not sure if it was or not. It was my fault for not researching cabins better. We booked with plenty of time for me to snag a midship room. I just thought, "Oooh, a bigger balcony!" And took it. We had l-shaped cabins with larger balconies.

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Predicting the weather is impossible we all know. We just came off of a Thanksgiving weekend cruise that we have taken 9 times.....wow, was it rocky. On some past cruises over the same weekend...it was calm and delightful. You just can't know what you will get in November. But we do it anyway...we just love to get away that weekend!

We were sailing with another cruise line, but also Thanksgiving week. I'd never been sea sick in my life until then. My other two cruises were in early November and were perfect. So, I think we'll avoid late Nov. sailings from here on out just to be safe! Good to know it wasn't just us rockin' and rollin!

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Was at Sapphire beach nine days ago. I'm not gonna say I wasn't impressed. I wasnt, but I don't wanna be quick to judge because there must've been a storm or something that had blown through prior to our arrival because the waters were murky with tons of sea weed. I am confident it's not always like that though. It was my first time there and my father has been to Sapphire many times and says it's his favorite beach in the world.

It took forever and a day to get there (around an hour from the time we got off the ship) because the taxi driver wanted to fill his van and then we of course had to drop those individuals off. Keep that in mind if you have time constraints. There were public restrooms and a food/drink bar up and running.

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I just got off Conquest. We had a great time, but are desperate to get on the Breeze. Conquest does not have Serenity deck. That wasn't really a big deal to us. It does have an adults only pool and hot tub, which we only ever ended up utilizing for around 15 mins. one day. People said there would be kids running all over that area because the pizzeria was back there, too, but honestly I rarely saw kids back there. Even during a Thanksgiving cruise with a whopping 800 children on board (about 1/3 of the passengers on the ship!)

I like both itineraries. San Juan is my favorite cruise port, so far, so I would be interested in going back to explore. However, I am not a fan of the two sea days at the beginning of the trip. You may not mind that, though. I loved Grand Turk and would love to go back and rent a Jeep and see something other than Margaritaville next time. I am still so upset I didn't get to see wild horses and such. So, both itins having GT on the list is a plus. I wish the GT time frame and the San Juan time frame on the Breeze cruise could be swapped, though. If I were to have a short stop anywhere, I'd prefer it be in GT because there's almost no way to miss the ship unless you're absolutely plastered.

I guess, overall, I'd say go with the Breeze. Especially if it's cheaper. In San Juan, we didn't even purchase any excursions. We just went by foot and looked around. GT, there is no need to purchase an excursion there, either. Yes, if I went back I'd pay the $80 to rent a Jeep or golf cart, but $80 really isn't a huge drop in the bucket. We bought the $129 cabana and sat in it a grand total of 10 mins. So, we wouldn't do that again. We have our own snorkeling gear, as well. If I were you, I would just book excursions in St. Maarten and St. Kitts if you do that cruise and wing it in GT and San Juan (there really is no point in booking excursions in a 7-2 port. We did that in Nassau and almost missed the ship :eek:).

I second the vit C suggestion! DH was extremely sick the week before our cruise, so I started loading up on Airborne and drinking a honey and cinnamon cocktail every night before bed. I had a little sore throat but it never got as bad as his, thankfully.

Well, here it is. Yet another Thanksgiving cruise review. I'd debated on whether or not to even post, but figured since there wasn't one on the Conquest yet (for this most recent sailing), I might as well. I haven't gotten my pictures uploaded to the computer yet. But, as soon as I do, I'll add photos to this post. Please keep in mind, brevity is not my strong suit.

Let's jump right in, shall we?

Day 1 (11/23 Miami)- Embarkation was not the most thrilling experience of my life. Is it ever? I am so envious of those of you who look perfectly coiffed and cheerful in your Bon Voyage photos. Thinking back to my 2000 and 2003 cruises, and now this one, I just don't know how it's possible to keep a camera-ready composure throughout the boarding process. I digress.

We arrived at the lovely and suffocatingly humid port of Miami around 10:45 AM Sunday morning, the 23rd. Seeing the ship there, towering above her surroundings, our hearts were aflutter with excitement. My mother in law asked me which was our ship, Splendor or Conquest. When I clarified, she squealed, "Oooh, yeah! I wanted that one to be ours because I like it the best!" Remember the scene from Home Alone 2, where Kevin takes his first taxi ride through NYC? That was us, mouths agape and all.

We pulled up to the terminal where a baggage handler was waiting. It was then that I learned I cannot rely on everything I read when scanning through Google search results. No, you cannot, in fact, check a garment bag. No. Not even if you've got it tagged. Of course, you probably already knew that. Spare me. So, we dragged all four overloaded garment bags, along with our substantially over-stuffed carry on bags and purses (Yes, we over packed. No, we'll never make that horrible mistake ever again) over to the terminal entrance to wait for my father in law to go park the vehicle in the parking deck. At some point during the thirty minute sweat fest, the baggage handler approached us and very bluntly and directly ASKED FOR A TIP!!! This type of behavior is not customary where I'm from, so I was quite taken aback. Of course, we fully intended to tip him. However, my father in law was the only one of us carrying cash so we were awaiting his return.

Eventually, my FIL (I'm just going to abbreviate MIL and FIL from here on) came back. The baggage handler got his tip. We began our conquest of Conquest's boarding process. And it goes a little something like this:

Sit bags down, retrieve folder with boarding passes, passport and Ebola paperwork. Present to agent. Take documents back. Return to folder and return folder to bag. Pick all belongings up strategically and attempt to re-establish balance underneath such incredible weight. Walk 20 steps. Sit bags down, retrieve folder with boarding passes, passport and Ebola paperwork. Present to agent...

I totally appreciate the collaborative effort of Carnival Cruise Lines and the United States Government to keep us safe, but after about the fourth or fifth time of doing this I was ready to turn around and go home. Lol, jk! Like I said, I totally understand and respect what's necessary... and if I hadn't packed like a prepper on doomsday it wouldn't have been half as bad.

Moving on, and skipping over a lot, including the part where I flashed on-boarding passengers and crew :eek: It was time to walk onto the vessel we would call home for the next seven days.

We had FTTF, so our room was ready. We didn't really reep the benefit of getting to board before anyone else, but having our rooms ready when we did board made it worth while. We checked the rooms out (aft, L-shaped deck 6-- 6450 and 6442, to be exact), sent pictures to family and went to lido for lunch at Guy's. Guy's wasn't exactly the phenomenally mind-blowing burger experience I'd been led to believe, but it was a decent burger, nonetheless. Throughout the cruise, you could rely on Guy's for having the fastest food-in-hand service on the ship. The other food lines presented a 15 minute wait at the very least, no matter what time of day or day of week. Pizza? You'd be better off to call and order Dominos in the middle of the ocean. It'd probably arrive to the ship faster than you'd get through that line. Yowza!

So, we ate our burgers on the upper level of Cezanne, then headed back to the rooms to decorate our doors and relax before muster. Sometime in between boarding and muster, I did notice that the layout of Conquest was much more difficult to decipher than that of the Imagination, which is the only other ship I've ever cruised on. It was almost like navigating a labyrinth the first few days. Not really a big deal, I did figure it out eventually.

Muster wasn't bad because we got to do the handicapped one in the Renoir dining room. Everybody else had to line up outside on deck. We did walk past our muster station (H for aft 6) before going to Renoir just so we'd know where to go in case of a real emergency. Then, there was sail away. We went up to the front of the ship and waved goodbye, very serenely.

After we sailed away, we went to have dinner in our assigned dining room, Monet. Monet is the dining room for those who choose early or late dining. Renoir serves anytime diners. I say it so matter-of-factly, but actually didn't figure that out until the sixth night of the cruise :rolleyes:.

Dinner at table 565 was satisfying to myself, my husband and my in-laws. We met our waiter, Gembong, who was pleasant and eager to please. Service was a little slow that night, but it was the first night and even our sail away was slightly delayed. So, we just took it in stride. The creme brulee (I think it was served this night?) was worth the wait!

After dinner, DH and I explored the promenade deck and casino while waiting for the adult comedy show at the Punchliner comedy club in the Degas Lounge. My in-laws retired to bed directly after the meal. I just chalked that up to them being tired from traveling, but eventually realized that if they weren't eating or in port, they were sitting in their stateroom flipping through the few available television channels. Inevitably, they were dissatisfied with the trip and have sworn off cruising, entirely. FYI: to any potential first time cruisers, if you stay in your stateroom for the duration of your cruise (unless it's your honeymoon ;)) you're gonna have a bad time.

Another contributing factor to my in-laws' dissatisfaction, which was out of Carnival's control, was the fact that we endured seriously rocky waters last week. The rocking and swaying began sometime during that first evening and did not let up until we docked back in Miami on the 30th. I had never experienced sea sickness in my life until that cruise. I still had an amazing time, which I fully intend to share with you all. However, seeing that this post has reached the size of a best-selling novel (and I've only covered day 1), I am going to have to bring this part to a close. Be on the lookout for Day 2, Nassau/Balmoral Island Dolphin Swim!

Any questions you have regarding Conquest, feel free to ask while I still remember! I have all copies of Fun Times on hand, as well.

Was in Nassau on November 24th. The water was chilly to where it took a minute to adjust. We did a dolphin swim and I sort of got knocked into the water by a rough wave and I adjusted to the temp quickly. My husband put his feet in and said no thanks. So, I guess it depends on the person. In a few weeks, however, I do not think it will be easy to adjust.

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The two of us who took our phones out of airplane mode in Puerto Rico had our time switched and it did not correct until we were back in Miami. The two who did not use their phones remained on ship time. We ended up using a watch the rest of the time to stay on schedule.

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How was Balmoral and dolphin swim. I've read so many neg post about it but it's a good price on our cruise.

What did you do in San Juan and St. Thomas?

We're doing the Screamin Eagle ( for the 2nd time in STT) but should be able to fit extra in too

 

 

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I'd read some pretty bad reviews about Balmoral after booking, too, which made me a little scared. But, I have to say it was nothing like some of the bad stories I read. You have to take a charter boat thing (I don't know what to call it!) over to Balmoral Island from the cruise dock. Getting from the ship to the charter boat is a breeze. The boat ride takes about 45 mins. For us, Nassau was a very short day in port. Debark began around 8 AM and we needed to be back onboard by 1:30 PM for a 2:00 PM departure. So, we were cutting it close.

The beach was small, but the island was not dirty. The bathrooms could've used some sprucing up, but I was expecting a total shack and it was not at all a run-down place. Definitely save your drinking for back at the ship if you do Balmoral. Drinks are pricier and bartender uses far less alcohol. My $12 Miami Vice was more of a refreshing slushie than anything.

The dolphin swim is divided into two parts. Keep in mind, you cannot have family members on the shore taking photographs. Obviously, you know why. They have their own photographers. And, if you want any sort of documentation of this very incredible and unique experience, you must shell out $69.99 for a CD of photos. That really upset me. But, anyway, the first part of the dolphin encounter is a free swim in deep water. It's a roped off section with about 8 or so dolphins swimming around. The dolphins on that side did not seem thrilled with the presence of we humans. They were almost trying to hide. So, for thirty minutes, we kind of just bobbed around in the water, hoping for a dolphin to swim by. We had life jackets on and the water was rough, so it was hard to really navigate. Several people did get plenty of interaction with the dolphins on this deep swim, but they swam out to the farthest end of the designated section and I could not do that. Eventually, I gave up and sat on the shore anticipating the next part.

The second part was a shallow water interaction, which made the whole entire thing worth every cent. In that part, I got to hold a dolphin in my arms, kiss her, touch her teeth. It was amazing!

We almost missed our ship. I don't know that I would ever take an excursion that far from the ship on such a short stop ever again. Conquest reportedly left 24 people in Nassau the week before our sailing. We had to run, breathlessly, back to the ship once the charter dropped us off. Keep in mind, due to some kind of law they cited, the charter cannot drop you off where it picks you up. It drops you off about a five minute walk from the ship.

If you do Balmoral dolphin swim, bring water shoes. Also, the water was a bit chilly last week. Not sure when you're going, but the temp could be a deal breaker for you.

In San Juan, which was my favorite stop, we walked around Old San Juan and explored the history of the area. I am a history buff so I was astounded at how old it all was. It was Thanksgiving day so a lot of big name attractions were closed. Locally owned shops and restaurants remained open. We stopped in and ate lunch at a little place called, "Tropical Taste." I wanted an authentic, Puerto Rican meal, despite it being Thanksgiving. The server offered us a turkey dinner, but I went with the pernil, rice and beans and mofongo. It was one of the most fabulous culinary experiences I had that week. Souvenirs in PR were also far more affordable than those elsewhere.

St. Thomas was a bust. It was all of our least favorite port. That made me sad because I'd been wanting to go to St. Thomas since I was a little girl. Basically, we paid $80 to sit on Sapphire Beach for one hour. Next time, we'll just hitch a ride downtown and shop.

I got this idea from another thread recently posted. I just got off of the Conquest (11/23-11/30), which was a Thanksgiving cruise. I'd be happy to take any questions from anyone since my memory is fresh. I have a huge, detailed review planned out, which I will be posting in the next few days. I actually had the first installment typed out and then my browser crashed :mad: But, in the meantime, if anyone wants to know anything about Conquest feel free to comment or leave a private message.

Itinerary:

Miami (Embark)

Nassau, Bahamas

Sea Day

St. Thomas

San Juan, PR

Grand Turk

Sea Day

Miami (Debark)

Cabin:

L-shaped aft on deck 6 (6450 and 6442)

Excursions Purchased:

FTTF (not really an excursion, but an add-on)

Balmoral Island Beach Day and Dolphin Swim

Grand Turk Cabana Rental

Omg I could cry. I just got off Conquest where I spent a whopping $149 on internet, solely checking/updating my Facebook. Come to find out, Breeze has a $25 social media plan?! Wow! We had a family member who was dying, and who eventually did die on our sailing, so we needed to stay in touch. Plus, with it being a holiday and all, I wanted to have contact with everyone. Facebook was our point of contact. Next cruise is definitely on the Breeze!

Sorry, OP, that I do not have anything valuable to add to this thread.

OP, you're not alone on the first time being seasick thing. What was the deal with the ocean last week?! Lol! We were on Conquest for Thanksgiving to Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan and Grand Turk. I had never been sick on a boat in my life until that cruise. I had to wear a patch, take phenergan and Dramamine (Bonine when that wore off). The first sea day was a true nightmare. I got so sick standing in the breakfast buffet. DH and I had to walk around the ship to try and find somewhere I wouldn't feel the ship rocking as bad. Our stateroom was quite possibly the absolute worst area of the ship to be. After my phenergan kicked in, I was able to eat some of my breakfast. My mother in law had an extra prescription of patches, so she gave me one. But, it takes about 12 hours to reach your system. So, during formal night dinner (the one with lobster :(), I couldn't eat. Once the patch kicked in on me, I was fine. I continued to take Bonine everyday, as well, just in case. It was so bad that my mother and father in law, who were first time cruisers, have sworn off cruising entirely.

I just got off the Conquest Sunday. I had my hair styled last Tuesday on board by a lovely stylist named Danielle. There was another stylist styling another woman's hair (it was formal night) in the chair beside us. So, there definitely are at least two stylists in the ship's salon. I am not sure how you can book that kind of thing in advance, but definitely try to. Or, at least book as soon as you board (the salon/spa will be open for tours).

Christmas Eve will not affect anything. We cruised on Thanksgiving and none of the ship's services were shut down for the holiday. Establishments in port were, but the ship kept all facilities open.